Spend four days in fly fishing heaven

August 8, 2012

Have your fishing skills plateaued? Are you sinking into the been-there-done-that rut? Need to spice up your fishing life?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, the solution may be the Fly Fishing Faire in Mammoth, Sept. 13-16.
Attendees will get a wealth of information at a startlingly cheap price: $10 for all four days; anglers under 16 are free.
The admission fee includes free raffle tickets and a chance at rods, reels, flies and other tackle gear.
Headquartered at Cerro Coso Community College, the Faire is a combination of classroom-style instruction in the morning and real-world fishing in the afternoons. The instruction will be delivered by local fly-fishing guides holding workshops both indoors and on , or near, the water.
Classes are aimed at both seasoned fishermen who just need a tune-up to total novices. To further expand an angler’s horizon, the Faire includes doses of conservation education as well as courses on wildlife photography.
Sierra Pacific Fly Fishers, Santa Lucia Fly Fishers and Fly Fishers of Orange County will conduct classes on the basics of the sport Friday through Sunday at Shady Rest Park and at the Frontier Pack Station on June Lake Loop.
Tie-your-own-fly types will have many opportunities to expand their tying repertoire. Naomi Okamoto will conduct a class on extended body flies. Shane Chung’s area of expertise is surf flies. If realistic beetles are your thing, Bill Blackstone is your go-to guy. Other classes, all held at Cerro Coso College, include woven body flies with Cheryl Moore and small flies with Dave Parker.
The Faire also offers a three-hour course on aquatic entomology, Friday morning, Sept. 14.
Fly casting is as much of an art form as swinging a golf club. To perfect the art, the Faire has put together a “cast of experts” for a two-hour Casting Rendevous Thursday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 15.
Tim Lawson addresses the back cast on Friday. Presentation casts will be tackled by Dok Arvanies, as well as improving the distance of the cast. Both presentation and accuracy are topics taken up by Paul Riegert. There will be specific courses for beginners, intermediates and a certified instructor test.
Under the heading of conservation, the Faire will present informational sessions on Hot Creek area maintenance, the California Department of Fish and Game’s cutthroat trout recovery and high mountain lakes programs.
For an additional $5-$8, Faire-goers can screen films shown at the theater building on Cerro Coso’s campus. Topics include the Mono Lake story, “Manzanar Fishing Club” and fly fishing film tours.
Seminars include Pat Jaeger’s Hooks and Chicken Feathers, High Alpine Country Golden Trout with Nathan Wray and Jon Carlton and Hidden Fly Fishing Opportunities in the Eastern Sierra with Peter Pumphrey.
For more details and registration, go to www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1054129[2]